Jake

Idle Thumbs 137: Data Complete

Recommended Posts

Did we use the word ripoff? Saying it uses the same basic starter gameplay language of Minecraft (and saying it as praise/something interesting) is nearly infinite miles from saying its a ripoff.

I think the term ripoff was used in particular in a discussion about how the term isn't really just when applied to Terraria given that there was a flood of actual and shameless Minecraft ripoffs on the best-selling list of XBLIG.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Google robot and genomics company acquisition talk was hilarious and horrible. I hope Chris is not using an Android phone.

 

On a related note, Introducing Google Nexus 6.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

* Google doesn't actually own 23andme, but they did invest some money and Sergey Brin's wife is one of the cofounders

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Calling Terraria a 2D ripoff of Minecraft is a bit unfair. Especially since no one on the cast has actually played the game.

I'm pretty sure they said the opposite. The subject of "ripoff" came to the table, as it was something "some people" said to Notch that Terraria was a 2D ripoff of Minecraft to which Notch responded that Minecraft could be seen as a ripoff of Dwarf fortress. etc. Knowing the idle thumbs cast members they would never label anything they mention as a ripoff unless it's actually a copy past of the same game. Case in point, they didn't even call Luxor a ripoff of Zuma (which is actually a ripoff of Balistic).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The actual playable size of a Minecraft world on PC is 30,000,000 blocks in each direction from the starting point. That is 30,000 km. I think I remember reading somewhere that if you tried to run from the starting point to the edge of the playable area, it would take over 800 hours of continuous running. Also, your computer would probably explode long before you could ever manage to uncover the entirety of a Minecraft map.

 

Jake, you should totally get back into Minecraft. So much has changed since you last played.

 

Edit: http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Far_Lands 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As an avid TF2 player I enjoyed the talk about the Valve free-to-play economics.

 

Speaking of... Enjoy your 700$ Jake and Sean.

 

 

Edit: Hope I'm not out of line here but if you're not interested in putting in the man hours and risk trying to sell your stuff you might consider donating them to the TF2 charity event Tip of the Hats. They already have tens of thousands of dollars worth of items so far and the livestream event should be insane this time. It's for a very good cause.

 

qre0glV.png

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I wonder if Chris, as you woke up you accidentally opened up Device 6, which has some inter-level meta games one of which acts as if it's scanning your face. Maybe it ended with a 'Data Complete' prompt.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

To answer Chris' question about what a "sunbeams unusual effect" is, what makes the unusual quality items 'unusual' is that they all have effects applied to the hat.  In the case of the sunbeams effect, the hat has sunbeam-like rays coming out of it.  This makes them easy to identify and highly coveted items.  Additionally, crates have only a 1% chance of giving an unusual item, and the only way to get an unusual (other than trading) is by unlocking a crate with a key. 

 

There are other item qualities as well.  The normal quality items are the stock weapons that everyone has.  Unique quality items are the new weapons that were added later.  Vintage quality are items that were crafted or obtained before a certain date and cannot be obtained again unless Valve decides to apply them to a new set of items.  Genuine quality items are promotional items given out for preordering associated games on Steam.  Strange quality items are ones that track certain statistics, such as kills or assists, on the item.  Reaching a certain number for the statistic changes the description of the item as well.  Haunted and festive quality is associated with certain items obtained during the Halloween and Christmas events.  Community and self-made items are given out by Valve to people who contribute to the game.  Valve quality items are developer items given to Valve employees.  Community, self-made, and Valve quality items can't be traded.

 

Also, I would say that while the earbuds are probably the equivalent of the gold standard, refined metal is usually the most common currency used during trades although they have no real monetary value.  Metal is crafted by combining 2 items and turning them into scrap, which can be combined with 2 more scrap to turn into reclaimed, which can be combined with 2 more reclaimed to become refined.  Keys and Tour of Duty Tickets are also common trading fodder which can be purchased in the in-game store.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Thumbs didn't call Terraria a ripoff of Minecraft.

 

I didn't notice it mentioned in the podcast but it's of note that Finn "Tiy" Brice, the lead developer of Starbound, was the principal sprite artist on Terraria until April of '11.

 

Having played both far too much, I can't really say I prefer either; I like them both. I don't think either game allows for more creativity, really... perhaps in the sense that Minecraft has an extra dimension, but that's rather apple/orangey.

 

Terraria has the gather/build/survive aspect of Minecraft but it's got much more stuff (objects, tools/weapons, blocks, etc) than Minecraft and the combat aspect is much more developed (far more monsters, boss creatures, and NPCs). It's a systemic Metroidvania-style combat platformer which also has a core sandbox mechanic.

 

Terraria just got a big holiday update, fwiw, if anybody wants to give it a try (it also got a Halloween update this year, which was fun). I gather the Terraria author was convinced by a friend to update Terraria instead of working on Terraria 2, but Terraria 2 is still in the works...

 

Starbound is totally worthwhile. I'd recommend it over Minecraft to those who don't enjoy the sandboxiest games; it has an absurd amount of writing and many prebuilt (minimally-procedural) zones. People who are interested in Terraria/Starbound but want more streamlined PvP combat might check out King Arthur's Gold.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Did we use the word ripoff? Saying it uses the same basic starter gameplay language of Minecraft (and saying it as praise/something interesting) is nearly infinite miles from saying its a ripoff.

Well, there were the bits in the actual conversation about Starbound where you talked about how Minecraft's gameplay language has kind of spawned its own genre and that that's pretty cool, and I agree with all that. But prior to that, when Terraria came up, it was referred to as "a 2D version of Minecraft" multiple times.

IMO, that's a really reductive way of describing that game, as it has a lot of its own thing going on. But...whatever. I'm probably just being overly defensive about a game I've spent way too many hours of my life playing.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Disturbing episode. From 54.18 to 54.28, while Chris and Sean are talking, in the background you can hear Jake's robot double shoot him dead, before dragging away his body. The fact that the guys just keep talking must mean they've already been replaced.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

before dragging away his body

 

I think you'll find that was the sound of the robot's Biota Reduction Sac engulfing Jake's body to dissolve it (save for the teeth) prior to reconfiguring itself in his image.

 

It is very disturbing, yes. Were Chris and Sean implicitly threatened with some unspeakable horror if they didn't continue the show without comment, or were their minds made placid and pliable by a chemical-and-nanomachine concoction pumped into the room?

 

... perhaps they had already been assimilated.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I liked it when... Sean? said he figured out why Day Z was using the "Take On Helicopters" engine, because helicopters were in Day Z, failing to realize that helicopters are also in the ArmA games. This episode also made me learn of IT'S-IT ice cream which is interesting.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As an avid TF2 player I enjoyed the talk about the Valve free-to-play economics.

 

Speaking of... Enjoy your 700$ Jake and Sean.

 

 

Edit: Hope I'm not out of line here but if you're not interested in putting in the man hours and risk trying to sell your stuff you might consider donating them to the TF2 charity event Tip of the Hats. They already have tens of thousands of dollars worth of items so far and the livestream event should be insane this time. It's for a very good cause.

 

qre0glV.png

 

I started researching this a bit, and very quickly found a Wiki list of "Self-Made item owners", that includes Jake, Sean and other Telltale people that own the Poker Night items. No wonder they get so many new friends.

 

 

PS: From what I can tell my "regular" Lugermorph I got from Poker Night is NOT tradeable, but the self-made ones are? 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I started researching this a bit, and very quickly found a Wiki list of "Self-Made item owners", that includes Jake, Sean and other Telltale people that own the Poker Night items. No wonder they get so many new friends.

 

 

PS: From what I can tell my "regular" Lugermorph I got from Poker Night is NOT tradeable, but the self-made ones are? 

 

Community, self-made, and Valve quality items cannot be traded or used in crafting.  The non-vintage Lugermorph is one of a few other items that also cannot be traded (although there is a workaround in the form of the gift wrap tool).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's-It is one of those things that makes living in the Bay Area the best thing.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's-It is one of those things that makes living in the Bay Area the best thing.

 

See also: Dutch Crunch bread. Inexplicably not available everywhere.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Does the Minecraft inspired genre have a name yet? "Minecraft-like" seems too unwieldy. How long did it take to go from "Doom clone" to "FPS"?

I thought it was "survival-sim".

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This isn't true, but I think it would be fun to pretend that it is:

In March of 2013, I joined the Idle Thumbs forums for one reason, and one reason alone: rare TF2 hats.

After studying wikis of item rarities, I discovered an opportunity like no other. Like a sunken Spanish galleon less than a mile off of the Florida Keys, the idle thumbs podcast crew had a trove of treasure in their steam library; but first, I would have to gain their trust.

I began to write passioned prose and manifestos, styled and themed by views I uncovered and formulized by listening to years of podcasting. Soon, I would be selling Sam's severed-head for a cool $600.

I planned for everything, the method, the motive, the alibi. But there was one thing I forgot to take into account; I forgot to plan for the possibility that I would fall in love with the Idle Thumbs community.

I was the man on the inside for the long-con. As debates about men's rights and the true rhetoric of Civilization 5 drew me into the colagulation of wonderful people here, I began to forget what I had come in for, I started to build a new life for my self; a new life... where we could run off alone... together.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I am always surprised at the volume of people who think to write into the Idle Thumbs guys telling them about various bits of INSANELY OBVIOUS ROBOT NEWS. Like, at some point, a person read "google acquires boston dynamics" and their immediate thought was: "I bet that this story will just fall through the cracks unless I report it to Jake, Chris and Sean!" Apparently this thought goes through so many people's minds.  In this world, the Idle Thumbs guys never, ever consume any news whatsoever, evidently. To twist one of my favorite quotes (brought up in the episode!), if you want a picture of the Idle Thumbs future, imagine a set of emails about obvious robot news stamping on Jake Rodkin's face - forever. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Humanity was too complacent.Too busy reading spoofed robot news e-mails to discover the truth. 300 'lucky' recipients clutched a steam controller, and became the first Steamborgs. Their last words as they transitioned away from sentience, "Data Complete."

 

The world's hat supply was in their control within hours.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now